© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton hopes Mercedes’ advantage is not due to “this compression ratio thing”, because then he’d be “disappointed that the FIA have allowed that to be the case”.
The biggest controversy that emerged at the beginning of 2026, has centred around the legality of Mercedes’ new power unit.
More specifically, rival F1 teams have accused Mercedes and Red Bull of having found a way of getting around ‘compression ratio limits’, as described in the new regulations.
This has to do with how much the air-fuel mix in an engine is compressed prior to ignition. In the new regulations, the limit has been dropped from 18:1 to 16:1, to improve sustainability, and this ratio is measured when the engine is off at ambient temperature.
Since a higher ratio equals more power, it is implied that Mercedes and Red Bull have found a way to increase the ratio by using materials that expand at higher temperatures (temperatures achieved while the car is racing on the track). As already explained, the FIA’s current measuring methods do not measure the ratio in these conditions.
Ultimately, the FIA decided to start measuring compression ratios also at operating temperature from June 1st, 2026.
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This has seemingly put a stop to the controversy, but after Mercedes locked out the front row at Australian Grand Prix Qualifying, with pole sitter George Russell almost eight tenths ahead of third placed Isack Hadjar, Lewis Hamilton expressed his concerns over Mercedes’ possible power unit advantage.
“I don’t understand it exactly,” Hamilton told the media after qualifying.
“They didn’t show that they could turn it up in testing and now they’ve got this extra power from somewhere and we need to understand what that is.
“I hope it’s not this compression ratio thing, hopefully it’s just pure power and we’ve got to do a better job.
“If it is the compression ratio, then I’ll be disappointed that the FIA have allowed that to be the case. It’s not to the book, and I’ll be pushing my team to do the same thing so we can get more power.”
“If they have a few months of that, then the season’s done – I mean, not done, but seven races, a few months, you lose a lot of points with a second behind in quali,” the Briton concluded.
